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Bangladeshi Laborers Aren’t Backing Down
August 02, 2010

Garment workers assist their colleague who was beaten by the police during a protest in Dhaka on Friday. Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers took to the streets, burning cars and blocking traffic in Dhaka to protest against a government-announced wage hike that fell far short of their demands. (Reuters Photo/Andrew Biraj) Garment workers assist their colleague who was beaten by the police during a protest in Dhaka on Friday. Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers took to the streets, burning cars and blocking traffic in Dhaka to protest against a government-announced wage hike that fell far short of their demands. (Reuters Photo/Andrew Biraj)
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Dhaka. Thousands of workers from the garment industry demonstrated on Monday near the Bangladeshi capital over a new minimum wage they call toolow, defying government warnings against moves that might jeopardize the country’s topexport earner.

At least 25 protesters were injured when security officials charged with batons to remove them from a major highway at Ashulia and Savar, a major industrial hub just outside Dhaka that supplies international chains including Wal-Mart, Gap and Marks and Spencer.

About a dozen factories closed on Monday to avoid being damaged, as the rampaging workers attacked some of the them police official Mahbubur Rahman said. He added that the protesters fled when additional security arrived.

Separately, several hundreds of workers blocked a road in Narayanganj, another industrial zone near Dhaka, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

There was no major violence reported. Monday’s demonstrations were part of an angry response to the government’s new minimum wages for the nation’s 2 million garment workers — most of them women — after months of violent protests over poor pay and working conditions.

The new structure raises the minimum pay by about 80 percent, but workers and labor leaders say that is not enough and does not match the high cost of living.

The new protest on Monday came despite agreement by union leaders late on Sunday to the new minimum pay structure, following a meeting with the government and factory owners.

Bangladesh has about 4,000 factories that export in bulk to international companies including Wal-Mart, Tesco, HandM, Zara, Carrefour, Gap, Metro, JCPenney, Marks and Spencer, Kohl’s, Levi Strauss and Tommy Hilfiger.

Garment workers in Bangladesh are among the lowest-paid in the world and have difficulty buying enough food and arranging shelter on their monthly earnings, according to the International Trade Union Confederation, a Vienna-based labor rights group.

In the first increase since 2006, the official minimum wage has been set at 3,000 takas ($45) a month, up from 1,662 takas ($25). Workers and labor rights groups have pressed for a monthly minimum wage of 5,000 takas ($73).

The new pay structure starts in November and has seven grades, the highest pay fixed at 9,300takas ($140).

Factory owners say the skilled workers usually earn much more than the minimum wage, and they label the recent protests as a conspiracy by some vested quarters and outsiders to destroy the industry, which competes with major exporters like India and China in low-end products.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Saturday her administration would show zero tolerance for any further protests that might jeopardize the vital industry.

Garment exports earn Bangladesh 80 percent of its $16.20 billion of annual exports last year. The country’s 4,500 factories employ 3 million workers, some 85 percent of them women.

 
Associated Press